Indie Record Shop AU
by Lochness Nova
Summary: "So, you must be new." It was supposed to be a one time thing. Out of the kindness of her heart, Maka agreed to help out Liz at her indie record store, "Deathbeats". SoMa AU


Indie bookstore, record store, comic shop, etc. AU; written for therewithasmile

_"So, you must be new."_

It was supposed to be a one time thing. Out of the kindness of her heart, Maka agreed to help out Liz at her indie record store, "Deathbeats".

* * *

"Come on! Patty can't work today, she's still recovering from the time she jumped on Kidd's back while he was doing his 3600 degree kick flip." Liz threw her hands up in the air. "We're just lucky she didn't break anything other than her arm. Kim can't come in and I need to attend a meeting."

Maka sighed and flipped her page, "Get Kidd to help then. It was his fault anyway."

"You know exactly why that is the worst idea you've ever though of."

"Tsu?"

"She's got her tea ceremony practice with Blake to help him—"

"Be more exposed to our culture, right right…" Maka glared at the page number and waved her hand dismissively.

"MAAAAKKKAAAAA~" A hand reached over to lower the book from her hands and she was confronted with the saddest puppy face. "Oh please? I'll give you a $25 gift card to Barnes and Nobel."

Maka raised her finger to her cheek thoughtfully, "And a free CD from your Tristam collection?"

* * *

She sat at the counter resting her head on both her fists, all too wary of how much time she still had on her shift. No— her volunteer work that stemmed from her selfless decision to waste a perfectly sunny Thursday in a stuffy record shop.

She let her eyes wander, taking in the rows of carefully stacked vinyl records and the dusted CD cases. She had gone to the store before, knowing the nooks and crannies from her hunts for rare Trance and Electro cds. The oak colored walls along with the rustic shelves made her feel cozy. She made a mental note to bring along a book next time— not that were was going to be a next time. Although, if she had known that business was going to be this slow, Maka would have brought along her copy of "Dubstep Production for Dummies".

Before she could get up to inspect the shelves for alphabetized covers, the bells rang and she picked up a gentle scent of cinnamon and leaves.

Maka whipped her head to the side and caught garnet with her eyes. A elderly— no, a young man walked in with hands in his leather jacket and a horrible slouch that made her sit up straighter. She moved her eyes upwards just a tad to let snow white hair fill them, then traveled lower to take in his handome face. "Welcome to Deathbeats! Can I help you look for anything?"

He scoffed and ran his hand through his hair, sending traces of autumn air at her, "So, you must be new. Just let me be." He made his way towards the S aisle of RnB.

Maka slumped forward again. So much for finding something to do. She stared at the clock and listened to the seconds tick by until she heard low mumbling: _Smokey Robinson..Smokey Robinson.. _

She rolled her eyes and continued to follow the second hand as it made it's way towards the 11. "Check the R's. The only 3 we have are "A Quiet Storm", "Smokey", and "Where's the Smoke"."

A bush of white peeked out from behind the stacks and disappeared again from the corner of her eye— not that she was paying attention to him. She laid her head on top of her arms, careful to follow the footsteps of the guy as he moved from shelf to shelf— only to make sure he wouldn't run off with any of Liz's precious cds.

After about 15 minutes (and yes, Maka heard and counted the seconds of the analog too), he slowly made his way to the counter. She perked her head up and proceeded to scan the items he individually placed on the side of the register.

"That'll be $54.07."

"What? I'm still holding 2 in my hands!" he quickly released them so that she could snatch them to scan.

"Yes but that was 5 cds, each were $9.99. Trust me it's $54.07." Maka held back a small yawn. She was always known for her blunt style and even better known for her exceptional smarts. After the final item and confirming the sale, the display flashed "$54.07", true to her word. She gave him a look that screamed "I told you so" and thrust her hand out for the cash.

He stared at the screen with disbelief in his eyes.

"Are you gunna keep standing there or are you going to wander over to the Ms when the artist's last name is P?"

He looked down and shoved his hands in his back pocket for his wallet. "— was distracted."

"Sorry I didn't hear you, speak up?"

"I said I was distracted ok!" he flushed. He quickly pulled out three twenties and reached back into his pocket for 7 coins.

"If you can't find the cents you don't have to worry about them."

"It's fine" he grunted, pulling his hands out, clutching a few coins. A few slipped from his weak grasp and her hands shot out to catch them before they hit the floor.

He seemed to have the same idea with his other hand and they crashed phalanges together. He jumped back and dropped the rest of his coins, turning a deeper shade of red as he ducked down to retrieve them.

Maka stood in shock at the clumsy customer as he shuffled around to find the lost coins. She pinked at the sight of his butt that peeked out from under the jacket as he shifted— no, focus on his shoes, those mustard colored shoes— that seem to frame his bottom more..

He slowly straightened up and turned her way. She let her eyes rake his body from his shoes to his long legs, to his shirt that pressed against his stomach, to his broad chest, to his smooth neck that was framed by the collar of his jacket, to his sharp teeth that bit down on his lips to his embarrassed red eyes.

Maka dropped her eyes back to the counter, quickly locating two pennies and a nickle that had dropped initially and plucked the bills out of his reach. She counted out precisely one $5 and a bill to set on the counter, bagged his cds, and ripped off the receipt.

"Please forget that just happened." Maka looked up and saw a hideously adorable pouting face. "I'm much cooler than this on a normal day." He twiddled his thumbs before collecting the money to store safely away.

After a moment's hesitation, she grabbed a pen and scribble down her name and number on the back of the receipt.

He didn't notice and continued to ramble, "I just was just I was distracted but normally I'm more careful than this. I mean I can be a little careless but actually no I'm a careful guy I would respect wait no actually.." he glanced up shyly, "Name's Soul."

She carefully placed the parchment between the "Hellberg" and "Tut Tut Child" cds, realizing that they were very nice dubstep albums she had enjoyed on youtube. She handed him the bag, "Maka."

Carefully avoiding her fingers, Soul grasped the handle, "So… see you soon?"

Maka placed a finger to her cheek and nodded her head to the right. She looked at the clock and then at the array of vinyl records still on the wall. She glazed over the dozens of shelves and finally back to Soul. "Yeah I guess you might."

* * *

"Maka! Thanks for closing up, did everything go alright?" Liz walked in through the back.

"Yeah.. I was thinking though, in case anything like this happens again, maybe I could work here? Yah know, officially. You did say you needed extra hands." Maka leaned back a little onto the RnB shelf and she rubbed her hands together.

"Are you serious?! Of course! Lemme just get the paperwork for you, we can sign it when we meet up tomorrow, lemme just grab it from my office." Liz turned around to backtrack and paused slightly when she heard a ping. She looked back at Maka who was smiling down at her phone, rapidly typing in her response.

_Oh yeah, she met the elusive regular, and just as I thought, they are going to be perfect. _Liz rolled her eyes and slyly made a mental note to high five BlackStar.


End file.
